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Draft New Draft



What follows is a "draft" new draft of the AIP proposal as a merger of the
AIP, CENTRE and ORSC proposals, with parts from DNSO.org and list
discussions, as well (at least where we thought we saw some concensus). This
does not represent concensus of any or all groups, but rather is an attempt
to bring the proposals together, pulling out the coherent parts from each,
into what we hope is a coherent whole. Comments?

Sincerely,
Andrew

=------------------------------------------------------------------------=

         1/30/99 DRAFT OF COMBINED AIP / CENTRE / ORSC CONCEPTS
         
                     * For Discussion Purposes *
      (does not currently represent consensus of any or all groups)

=------------------------------------------------------------------------=

1.0             INTRODUCTION

The name of this supporting organization shall be "The Domain Name 
Supporting
Organization" (hereafter, "DNSO"). It shall be established by resolution 
of the Board of Directors  of ICANN and shall become a functioning part 
of ICANN. These Bylaws provide guidance for the operation and management 
of the DNSO.

The DNSO is a consensus based policy advisory body within the Internet 
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"). The DNSO structure 
is based on a General Assembly, a Names Council and a set of 
constituencies. The objectives for DNSO are as defined in article VI of 
the ICANN bylaws; that is, to develop and recommend substantive policies 
and procedures regarding TLDs, including operation, assignment and 
management of the domain name system and other related subjects.

The proposed DNSO will not be a legal entity in its own right, but will 
be a component of the ICANN corporation. It will be an advisory body 
rather than a decision making body, without operational responsibility 
and with a minimal budget.

At the inception of the DNSO, its members and supporters reaffirm the 
historical rules under which all participants in the domain name system 
have operated to date. Nothing about the creation of the DNSO is meant to 
overturn the status quo as it exists at the inception. Specifically, the 
DNSO reaffirms the rules under which the TLD registries and registrars 
have operated to date. In support of such, the DNSO recongizes that 
current registries operate under the current RFCs (1591 in particular) 
and shall continue to do so until such time the RFC's have been ammended 
or replaced through due process. Due process to be accepteable by each 
individual registry, individually.

Entities and individuals may participate in DNSO work through the General 
Assembly or through constituencies, and they are invited to do so.

2.0             MEMBERSHIP

2.1                     Two Bodies of Membership.  

There shall be two bodies of the DNSO, a General Assembly and a Names 
Council.

2.2                     The General Assembly.

The General Assembly is an open body of individuals with a knowledge of 
and an interest in issues pertaining to achievement of DNSO objectives, 
who are willing to contribute time, effort and expertise in DNSO work 
items, including discussion of work items, work item proposal and 
development, draft document preparation, participation in working groups 
and steering committees. The General Assembly is an open, consensus based 
assembly, process oriented rather than member oriented.

2.3                     The Names Council.

The Names Council is the Steering Committee for the DNSO, elected from 
the General Assembly and dedicated to facilitation, administration and 
management of consensus building for each of the DNSO processes. 
Consensus based and thoughtfully researched and documented DNSO policy 
and standards proposals shall be forwarded to ICANN through Names Council 
recommendations. The Names Council shall conduct its business and hold 
election for its members in accord with the provisions set forth below.

2.4                     Individual Membership.  

Any person with a legitimate interest in the activities of the DNSO (as 
determined by Article VI of the Bylaws of the Internet Corporation for 
Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN")) may join as a individual member of 
the General Assembly by paying an individual membership fee to be set by 
the Names Council or the Organizational Committee.  Membership shall be 
effective upon payment of the fee, and individual members shall have the 
full rights and obligations of membership in the DNSO General Assembly.

2.5                     One Vote.

Voting members of the General Assembly are entitled to one vote.
        
2.6                     Reduced Fees.  

Reduction or waiver of the applicable annual fee shall be made for 
non-profit corporations, student members, retired members, and such other 
special categories as may be provided by the Names Council or the 
Organizational Committee. Reduction of the applicable annual fee also 
shall be made for individual members and corporate members from emerging 
nations; the Names Council shall determine an appropriate reduction of 
the fee after considering the gross national product, average annual 
income, and other relevant economic data of the applicant's home country.

2.7                     Resignations.

Any member may resign its membership at any time by giving written notice 
to the Names Council, accompanied by payment of any outstanding 
indebtedness to the DNSO. Resignation shall take effect as of its date 
unless some other date is specified. The acceptance of a resignation will 
not be necessary to make it effective. No dues previously paid by such 
resigning member shall be refunded by the DNSO unless such dues were not 
due and payable until after the resignation was received by the DNSO.

3.0             THE NAMES COUNCIL

3.1                     Overview and Purpose.

The Names Council shall facilitate cooperation and consensus on policies 
regarding the Domain Names System and related subjects, and, in 
accordance with Article VI, Section 3(a)(ii) of the Corporation's Bylaws, 
the Names Council shall make recommendations on such subjects to the 
Board of ICANN. The Names Council shall seek input and review of any 
proposed recommendations and Board nominations from all Members. The 
processes of the Names Council shall be governed by open and transparent 
non-discriminatory processes. 

3.2                     Composition.  

The Names Council shall be comprised of 24 initial names council seats, 
with voting rights divided equally between suppliers and consumers. 
Members shall be elected in accord with the schedule in the Appendix, 
section A. Thus, initially there would be 6 seats for each supplier 
constituency and 4 for each consumer constituency. In the event of 
another constituency being recognised, votes are normalised as described 
in the Appendix, section B. Members of the Names Council shall serve two 
year terms.

3.3                     Constituencies.

The Names Council will have 5 initial constituencies, balanced between 
Domain Name Service Suppliers ("Suppliers") and Domain Name Service 
Consumers ("Consumers") as laid out in the Appendix, section C and a 
process for adding further constituencies, in the Appendix, section D. 
The five (5) initial constituencies are:

     (a) Suppliers - TLD Registries;
                   - Registrars of the TLDs.

     (b) Consumers - Infrastructure and connectivity providers; 
                   - Businesses; and 
                   - Organisations primarily concerned with the 
                     interests of trademark owners.

Constituencies may adopt their own structures, as long as they comply 
with ICANN bylaws and the criteria laid out in the Appendix, section E. 
Constituencies are expected to find sponsors or be self sponsoring. 
Constituencies decide on their own representatives for the Names Council, 
using a process in accordance with the ICANN bylaws. A person may be 
involved in more than one constituency.

3.4                     Chair of the Names Council.

The Names Council chair will be selected by the Names Council at or 
before the first meeting in each year after a Names Council election; 
when selected the chair would lose his or her personal vote in the Names 
Council and the constituency must choose another representative for the 
Names Council. To ensure fair voting, Names Council chair would only have 
a casting (tie-breaking) vote.

3.5             Conduct of Business.  

The Names Council shall meet regularly on a schedule determined by its 
members, but not less than 4 times per year. Unless otherwise provided, a 
majority vote of the members attending a Names Council meeting at which a 
quorum is present shall be sufficient for the conduct of its business.

3.6             Meeting Forums.  

At least once a year, the Names Council shall meet in person at a 
location agreed by its members. All other meetings of the Names Council 
may take place in person, by telephone, video, internet, any other 
efficient form of electronic conferencing, or by a combination of the 
aforementioned modes of communication. 

3.7             Meeting Minutes.  

At each meeting, the members of the Names Council shall appoint a scribe 
to take notes and prepare minutes of the meeting.  Subject to the 
provisions of Paragraph 3.7 below, the Names Council shall post minutes 
of its meeting to the DNSO web site within 2 business days after the 
meeting has concluded.  

3.8                     Open Meetings.  

Subject to the provisions of Paragraph 3.7 below, all meetings of the 
Names Council shall be open to all DNSO members. Members will be welcome 
to observe in-person meetings and, to the extent technically and 
financially practicable, listen to all other meetings.

3.9                     Names Council - Voting on Record

The Names Council shall record in its minutes the position and views of 
every Names Council member on every Names Council action.

3.10            Executive Sessions of Names Council. 
 
When necessary and appropriate to protect the confidentiality of any 
matter before it, the Names Council can elect to hold an Executive 
Session, which shall be closed to all persons other than Names Council 
representatives.  By way of example and not by way of limitation, it may 
be appropriate for the Names Council to hold Executive Sessions to 
discuss private personnel matters.

3.11            Names Council Meeting Attendance Requirement.  

In order to ensure a continuously active Names Council, elected members 
and At Large members who miss either (a) two consecutive Names Council 
meetings or (b) more than 25% of the meetings in any single year, shall 
be dropped from the Names Council in the absence of extenuating 
circumstances. In the event that a member is dropped, the constituency 
shall choose a new representative.

3.12            Conduct of Names Council Meetings.  

Robert's Rules of Order (Revised), or whatever other rules shall be 
selected by the Names Council, shall govern the conduct of Names Council 
meetings on all matters not otherwise specified in these Bylaws or the 
Constitution. 

4.0             NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF ICANN BOARD MEMBERS

4.1             Elections Committee.  

The Names Council shall appoint an Elections Committee each year, which 
shall consist of a Chair and four or more members of the General 
Assembly, not more than half of whom may be sitting members of the Names 
Council. The Elections Committee shall oversee the election of the DNSO's 
representatives on the ICANN Board of Directors and provide such other 
assistance as requested by the President.

4.2                     Nominations for Positions.

Initial candidates for nomination to the ICANN Board will be proposed by 
three or more members of the Names Council, none of whom may propose more 
than one candidate. Additional nominees can be added by the petition 
method set forth in Sectoion 4.3 below. In the case that more candidates 
are proposed than there are vacancies for DNSO nominations to the Board, 
the positions will be filled using a single transferable vote system. The 
DNSO nominees to the ICANN Board will have staggered terms of office to 
ensure continuity. Election to the staggered terms shall follow the 
method set forth in Section 4. below.

4.3             Nomination by Petition.  

The Elections Committee Chair shall call for nominations by petition for 
the ICANN Director positions from the General Assembly in an e-mail to 
all members and in an announcement posted on the DNSO web site. The 
announcement will include procedures for nominations by petition and will 
be made at least 30 days prior to the mailing or distribution of ballots. 
A petition nominating a DNSO member meeting the eligibility requirements 
and supported by the identifiable signatures of at least 50 members of 
the General Assembly shall automatically place that member's name on the 
slate of nominees, provided such petition is received by the Elections 
Committee Chair within 30 days after the call for nominations.  Such 
petitions must be submitted with the knowledge and agreement of the 
nominee. 

4.4             Eligibility.  

Any member of the General Assembly in good standing, not otherwise 
disqualified, is eligible for election to the ICANN Board of Directors.

4.5                     Ballots and Voting.  

The Elections Committee Chair shall provide the names of the nominees, 
biographical overviews, and individual position statements for 
preparation, mailing, and tallying of ballots to all members of the 
General Assembly.  The Elections Committee shall use whatever means it 
deems appropriate and accurate to distribute, collect and tally ballots.

4.6             Election.  

The candidate(s) receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected 
to fill the DNSO slots on ICANN's Board of Directors.  For the initial 
election, the person receiving the most votes shall be elected to fulfill 
the three-year term, the person receiving the next highest number of 
votes shall be elected to fulfill the two-year term, and the person 
receiving the third highest number of votes shall be elected to fulfill 
the one-year term.

4.7             Notification of Election Results.  

Immediately upon receiving the election results, the Elections Committee 
Chair shall notify all candidates, the DNSO's Officers, Names Council 
members, the membership of the DNSO, and the Chair of ICANN's Board of 
Directors.

4.8                     Removal of Board Members.

If, in the opinion of the Names Council, a member of the ICANN Board 
elected by the DNSO is no longer capable of fulfilling his or her 
responsibilities, or is no longer operating in the best interest of the 
DNSO, the Names Council may, by 2/3 vote, call a Special Referendum of 
the Membership asking for removal of that Board member. If 2/3 of the 
General Assembly then votes for removal, the Board Member will then be 
removed.

In the event of removal of one or more DNSO elected members of the ICANN 
Board, the Names Council will appoint one or more members (who is/are not 
also currently serving on the Names Council), as a temporary measure. A 
2/3 vote of the Names Council shall be necessary for such appointment. 
The Names Council will then immediately seek nominations from the General 
Assembly or a replacement to serve out the remainder of the removed Board 
member's term. No Board member who has been removed will be eligible for 
nomination. A Special Election of the Membership shall be held as soon as 
practicable from the nominees submitted to the Names Council.

5.0                     RESEARCH PROCESS 

5.1                     Reports and Recommendations.  

When requested by ICANN or upon its own initiative, the Names Council 
shall submit to ICANN a Report and Recommendation which shall contain the 
policy recommendations of the DNSO. Reports and Recommendations made by 
the DNSO to ICANN shall be made by the process set forth in this Section 
5. 

5.2                     Research Committees.  

For each matter upon which the DNSO makes a recommendation to ICANN, 
there shall be a Research Committee which will consider the relevant 
issues, research the ramifications of particular actions or inaction, 
review the comments and criticisms received by interested individuals and 
experts, hold hearings on the issues before it, reach consensus on the 
correct resolution of the issue, and draft and revise any Report and 
Recommendation.  

5.3                     Composition of Research Committees.  

Each Research Committee shall be composed of members of the Names Council 
and members of the General Assembly, in equal numbers. In selecting 
members of a Research Committee, the Names Council shall be guided by the 
need to ensure regional diversity and the desire for professional and 
business experience, technical expertise, and academic insight on the 
matters presented. 

5.4                     Expansion of Research Committee Membership.

If, at any time, the members of any Research Committee feels that they 
need additional expertise or counsel on the issues before them, they may, 
in their discretion and by a majority vote of the committee's members, 
expand their membership by adding new committee members from the General 
Assembly or from outside the DNSO with the requisite experience or 
background.  

5.5                     Issue Statement.  

After its members are appointed, each Research Committee shall meet to 
discuss the issue(s) with which it has been presented, prepare a 
timetable for the drafting of, and comments and revisions to, the Report 
and Recommendation, and draft an Issue Statement.  The Issue Statement 
shall fairly frame the issue(s) on which the Report and Recommendation 
shall be made to ICANN, and whenever practicable, provide an overview of 
various positions and possible outcomes.  The Research Committee shall 
promptly post its proposed timetable and Issue Statement to the DNSO 
website and invite comments from the General Assembly. 

5.6                     Comment Period and Open Meeting.  

The Research Committee shall review all comments submitted in response to 
the Issue Statement and shall schedule an Open Meeting of the General 
Assembly at which interested persons can make additional statements and 
discuss the issues presented with the Research Committee.  Notice of the 
Open Hearing shall be posted on the DNSO web site at least 30 days in 
advance, and the Research Committee shall endeavor, to the extent 
feasible and practicable, to permit participation by telephone or 
videoconference. The Research Committee may hold additional Open 
Meetings, if warranted.

5.7                     First Request for Comments.  

The Research Committee shall review all comments submitted in response to 
the Issue Statement and consider the statements made and discussions held 
at the Open Hearing and shall draft a Report and Recommendation 
containing the tentative conclusions of the Research Committee, along 
with a detailed statement of reasons why it has reached its tentative 
conclusion.  This draft Report and Recommendation shall be posted to the 
DNSO website in the form of a "First Request for Comments."  

5.8                     Fair Hearing Petition.

If, after the First Request for Comments is published, any person, 
corporation, or organization (the "Petitioner") feels that the proposal 
outlined by the Research Committee either (i) places an unfair burden on 
the Petitioner's personal, business, or organizational interests, or (ii) 
is not in the best interests of the domain name system, the Petitioner 
may request a Fair Hearing. Each Petition for a Fair Hearing shall 
include (i) a detailed statement of the harm that would be caused if the 
proposal contained in the Request for Comments was adopted as policy; 
(ii) a specific reference to the language in the Request for Comments 
that would lead to the alleged harm; (iii) a specific proposal for new or 
modified language that would alleviate or minimize the alleged harm; and 
(iv) a statement of the Petitioner's professional or business interests 
that would be impacted in any way by the adoption of its proposed 
language. The Research Committee may either adopt the Petitioner's 
suggested language or hold a Fair Hearing.

5.9                     Pre-Clearance Review.

In addition to filing a Fair Hearing Petition, any member of the Registry 
constituency may ask, after the First Request for Comments is issued, 
that a proposed policy recommendation undergo a pre-clearance review from 
the registries, in order to avoid wasted effort. The Names Counsel shall 
establish a pre-recommendation enforceability review process that will 
determine whether a substantial plurality (3/4ths) of those who would be 
required to implement a proposed policy (registries in most cases and, 
voting as a separate group, registrars insofar as they have a direct 
contractual relationship with ICANN) will contractually commit to do so. 
Policies that do not meet this criteria shall not be forwarded by ICANN 
by the DNSO.

5.10            Fair Hearing.

A Fair Hearing required by Sections 8.9 or 8.12 shall allow the Research 
Committee and the Petitioner, its representatives and supporters to 
discuss and debate the issues raised in the Fair Hearing Petition. Fair 
Hearings shall be open to all DNSO members. The purpose of the Fair 
Hearing shall be to seek consensus on the issues raised. After a Fair 
Hearing has been held, the Research Committee shall report on the DNSO 
web site whether consensus was reached, and if so, what was agreed by 
those present. Fair Hearings shall be open in the same manner as Names 
Council meetings. 

5.11            Second Request for Comments.  

The Research Committee shall review all comments submitted in response to 
the First Request for Comments and shall meet to discuss the issues 
before it and prepare a new draft Report and Recommendation.  This draft 
Report and Recommendation shall be posted to the DNSO web site in the 
form of a Second Request for Comments. 

5.12            Fair Hearing on Changes to Proposal.

If, after the Second Request for Comments is published, any person, 
corporation, or organization (the "Petitioner") feels that any new 
proposals outlined by the Research Committee, not previously contained in 
the First Request for Comments, either (i) places an unfair burden on the 
Petitioner's personal, business, or organizational interests, or (ii) is 
not in the best interests of the domain name system, the Petitioner may 
request a Fair Hearing. The Petition for Fair Hearing shall contain the 
items set forth above and any Fair Hearing shall take place in accord 
with the provision above.

5.13            Final Request for Comments.  

The Research Committee shall review all comments submitted in response to 
the Second Request for Comments and shall meet to discuss the issues 
before it and prepare a new draft Report and Recommendation.  This draft 
Report and Recommendation shall be posted to the DNSO section of the AIP 
web site in the form of a Final Request for Comments. 

5.14            Report to the Names Council.  

After reviewing all comments submitted in response to the Final Request 
for Comments, the Research Committee shall prepare a Report and 
Recommendation for the Names Council.  This Report and Recommendation 
will be posted promptly to the DNSO web site. 

5.15            Names Council Action.  

After the Report and Recommendation is submitted to it, the Names Council 
shall adopt the Report and Recommendation, reject it, or send it back to 
the Research Committee with instructions for additional study and/or 
drafting. In its discretion, the Names Council may submit a Report and 
Recommendation to the General Assembly membership for ratification; if 
this is done, the Report and Recommendation shall be forwarded to the 
Elections Committee Chair, who shall arrange for a ratification vote. A 
Report and Recommendation shall be deemed "Ratified by the DNSO General 
Assembly" if a majority of those casting ballots vote in favor of the 
Report and Recommendation. Each Report and Recommendation forwarded to 
the ICANN Board shall clearly state whether it has been ratified by the 
DNSO membership.

5.16            Submission of Report and Recommendation to ICANN.  

If the Names Council adopts the Report and Recommendation or it is 
approved by a vote of the DNSO membership, it shall be forwarded to ICANN 
as the DNSO's "Report and Recommendation" on the issue(s) contained 
within it.

6.0.            ACCESS TO INFORMATION

6.1                     Minutes and Reports.

The DNSO shall publish, at least annually, a report describing its 
activities and including an audited financial statement and describing 
any payments made by the DNSO to Directors (other than reimbursements of 
expenses). Draft minutes of all DNSO meetings shall be published no later 
than 48 hours. The Names Council at its next regular meeting will 
formally approve minutes. All minutes, meetings, materials, and 
communications of the DNSO (and any committees thereof) shall be made 
publicly available immediately following approval by the Names Council.

6.2                     DNSO Web Site.  

The Names Council shall post on the a public World Wide Web Site:

(a) Periodically a calendar of scheduled meetings for the upcoming year 
and
(b) in advance of each DNSO meeting or policy-recommendation proceeding, 
a notice of the fact and time that such meeting or proceeding will be 
held and, to the extent known an agenda for the meeting. If reasonably 
practicable the Names Council shall post notices of special meetings of 
the DNSO and of the Names Council at least fourteen (14) days prior to 
the meetings. As appropriate, the Names Council will facilitate the 
translation of final published documents into various appropriate 
languages.

6.3                     On-line Participation

To ensure international and diverse participation, the proceedings of   the 
DNSO and the Names Council, as well as all Committees of the DNSO, shall 
to the fullest extent possible, be conducted on-line.

7.0                     DUES, FEES, AND ASSESSMENTS

7.1                     Review of Finances.  

The DNSO may raise funds. The Names Council shall review the DNSO dues, 
fees, and assessments at least annually to ensure that usual and expected 
DNSO fiscal obligations will be satisfied.  

7.2             Establishment of Dues, Fees, and Assessments.  

Dues and fees shall be set by the Names Council annually.  At the first 
Names Council meeting of the year, the Chair shall present the fiscal 
history, status and projections for the DNSO, and shall propose dues and 
fees for the next year. The Names Council shall adopt dues and fees for 
the next year in time to be reported by Chair to the General Assembly to 
be effective the subsequent year. 

8.0                     CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Any by the Names Council in which a Names Council member is personally 
and directly interested, shall be valid, provided (i) the fact of such 
interest is previously disclosed or known to the Names Council, and (ii) 
the Names Council shall nevertheless authorize, approve and ratify such 
action at a meeting of the Names Council by a vote of a majority of the 
members present, such interested member or members to be counted in 
determining whether a quorum is present, but not to be counted in 
calculating the majority of such quorum necessary to carry such vote. 

9.0                     INDEMNIFICATION

The ICANN shall indemnify all Names Council members and those working as 
agents of the DNSO for acts within their respective authorities to the 
full extent permitted by the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law of the State 
of California. Dues raised by the DNSO shall provide funds for any 
necessary insurance to cover such indemnification obligations.

10.0            AMENDMENTS

These DNSO By-laws shall be adopted by the ICANN as part of its By-laws 
and/or board resolutions.  Consequently, these DNSO By-laws may only be 
amended by a 3/4 vote of both membership classes provided, that notice 
have been mailed in writing to all members, stating the proposed 
amendments in full, not less than twenty days prior to the meeting at 
which such amendments to these By-laws are to be voted upon.

=------------------------------------------------------------------------=

                                APPENDIX 

=------------------------------------------------------------------------=


A. Term of office of Names Council members.

Names Council representatives shall be elected by their constituencies 
and terms of office shall be staggered for continuity.  The term of 
office shall normally be of three years.

One-third of the membership of the initial Names Council must retire 
after one year in office, and another one-third of the membership after a 
second year.

In case a new constituency is recognised, and the Names Council decides 
against allocating new seats, the vacancies arising may be filled by 
representatives of the new constituency.


B. Normalisation of votes

Each side of the supplier/consumer equation shall receive a multiple of 
the lowest common multiple of the number of seats in constituencies such 
that each seat has an integer number of number of votes.  Subject to 
these constraints, the Names Council may decide how many votes are 
available in total for a given number of seats and constituencies.


C. Balance between Suppliers and Consumers.

The total number of votes available to supplier constituencies shall be 
equal to the total available to consumer constituencies.


D. Process for adding further constituencies.

Where it has been agreed that a prospective constituency has satisfied 
the requirements in section B above, the names council must vote to 
recognise the new constituency.  A supermajority of at least 3/4 of the 
votes must be in favour of recognition for the new constituency to be 
accepted. Upon recognition of a new constituency, balance of votes 
between suppliers and Consumers must be maintained. To achieve this, the 
Names Council is free to add more seats to the council, remove seats from 
the council and/or alter the weighting of each vote using normalisation 
as described in section C above.


E. Constituency requirements.

The promoters of the proposed constituency must persuade the Names 
Council that the proposed constituency:

(a)     Complies with ICANN bylaws.

(b)     Is globally diverse as far as possible.  If some ICANN defined 
region(s) have no representation at time of recognition as a 
constituency, there must be fair, open processes for adding those 
geographical regions when representation for those regions in that 
constituency becomes possible.

(c)     Has appropriate consensus procedures.

(d)     Has no significant overlap with existing constituencies, and 
procedures to ensure that this remains the case.

(e)     Has a representative procedure for bringing people forward for the 
Names Council. The constituency must declare whether it is a supplier or 
consumer constituency.


F. Voting procedures in the Names Council

For the purposes of voting on the Names Council, a constituency may 
delegate one or more of its Names Council representatives to participate 
in the Names Council meeting.  Votes assigned to the constituency shall 
be divided be the number of  constituency representatives present, 
physically or electronically, at the meeting.  Constituencies may 
delegate any Names Council member to vote on their behalf.  (e.g. if all 
consumer constituencies were in agreement on an issue, it would be 
necessary to only have one person present at the Names Council meeting to 
represent all those constituencies and thus that person would represent 
1/2 of the total votes available).

To change the status quo, a supermajority of at least 3/4 the total 
number of votes must be in favour of the proposed change.

When voting to appoint the chair of the Names Council, the procedure will 
involve single seat, single transferable voting.  A candidate with (50% 
+1) of the votes will automatically be elected.  If the newly elected 
chair is a member of the Names Council, that person shall lose their 
voting rights on the Names Council and the affected constituency must 
choose another representative to take their place.

Membership of the Names Council will not be a necessary qualification for 
a candidate for the chair.

=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-- 
Andrew Q. Kraft, MAIP
Executive Director, Association of Internet Professionals (AIP)
Email:      akraft@association.org
Phone:      310-724-6589
More Info:  http://www.association.org/